1. You are Southern Belle Book Blog – Tell me a little bit about yourself.
Erin – I’m Erin Spencer and I am 1/2 of Southern Belle Book Blog. I’m married to someone with the same name as myself, just spelled differently. It’s only mildly confusing but mostly super fun. I work in the events department at my local convention center and theatre. Most importantly, I’m the mother of 3 crazy, goofy children who drive me up the wall but make my heart pitter-patter every day.
Katie – Honestly, I hate talking about myself. But here it goes. I’m a native New Yorker living in Mars, PA. I got married 10(!) years ago and I’m a stay at home mom to three beautiful little girls. A few months ago I asked my oldest to help me write my bio and this is what she told me,”You’re pretty.” I’ve always been a reader. I remember driving cross country when I was in third grade, before DVDs in cars or having my own Walkman, and only being able to read. I fell in love with Laura, Mary and the whole Ingalls family that summer and it opened my world.
2. How did you get into blogging and why do you do it?
Erin – I began reading the romance genre in the summer of 2012 (thanks to Mr. Grey and Ana for the newfound love of reading) and was immediately drawn in. Around November 2013, I tested the waters by being a part of a small book blog for around a month. While my time with that blog was fun, I decided it only made sense to begin my own. I needed an outlet. No one else in my family read romance, nor did my best friend. I needed somewhere to go and scream from the rooftops about books that I love and maybe get opinions on books that I don’t. I just needed somewhere of my own to squeal like a fangirl and thus, Southern Belle Book Blog was formed. As it has grown over the years, some things have changed but the core of SBBB has stayed the same. We love books, indie or not. We love authors, whether they’re uber-famous or they only have 10 likes on Facebook. If we fall in love with an author’s work, we fall in love with that author as a whole and nothing makes us happier than being able to shout it out as loudly as we can to anyone that will listen.
Katie – I got into blogging soon after Southern Belle started. Erin was looking to bring someone else in to help and a friend recommended me. We meshed immediately and the rest is history. I’ve loved being part of Southern Belle and watching it grow but the best part is building friendships that have grown into family.
3. If you could sit and have lunch with 3 Authors, who would it be and why?
Erin – Argh! For me, if I could choose 3 authors to sit down with, it would simply be my very favorite authors. The authors that grabbed my heart and didn’t let go when I first began reading romance. The authors that wrote books and characters that I still compare pretty much every book to, as unfair as that is. The authors that wrote books that I have the most memories of reading that first summer. So… S.C. Stephens, Colleen Hoover, and Tina Reber. I’m going to cheat though and add a 4th because having John Green at lunch would be hella cool too.
Katie – Three authors I’d love to have lunch with are Laura Ingalls Wilder, Cecelia Ahern and Colleen Hoover. Laura because she opened my world and made me love reading. Cecelia because P.S. I Love You was my favorite book of all time for over 10 years. Colleen because not only did November 9 over take P.S. I Love You but because she’s Colleen. She has taken not only indie publishing but traditional publishing by storm, but she has been so humble about it. Plus she’d keep us laughing throughout the lunch.
4. Which character in books, so far, do you like the most and why?
Erin – Are we talking specific characters or character traits? For me, I’m an either/or kind of girl. I either LOVE cheating and I love to have my tummy twisted in unimaginable ways OR I love to be swept off my feet by the type of guys that probably don’t actually exist in this world but I love pretending they do. My go-to male characters would be Kellan Kyle, Will Cooper, or the Hale brothers. As far as the heroine, give me a strong, independent, snarky woman any day of the week.
Katie – The only thing I don’t read is paranormal. No vampires. No werewolves. No ghosts. Other than that, I read anything. I love a good alpha male. I love a good strong female. But I also love those who have struggled and appear weak but really deep down are strong. I love the underdog. There have been very few characters I just hated.
5. Tell me something on your bucket list. 🙂
Erin – I would love to live in New York City one day. Maybe not for a long period of time, because I don’t know if I could actually hack it there, but even just a tiny slice of time would be amazing.
Katie – I have a very small bucket list. As I get older it grows but top thing right now is to travel more with my kids. It could be a cross country road trip or going to Europe, but I want to give my girls the chance of seeing everything they want to.
Erin and I at the Hard Rock Author Event in Tulsa, OK
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